Military Brats are one of the main categories of Third Culture Kids. Since we tend to live in what we called “little America”, on the military base, in military house and attending military schools, we don’t get the same level of exposure to the culture and people of the country we are “visiting”.

What we missed most was exposure to the US culture of our time. Today, given modern communications technologies, that may not be much of an issue. However, when I was growing up, everything lagged. We always felt we were about six months behind on what was happening “stateside”, as that was the lag time for the arrival of new movies and records.

At one reunion, a classmate shared this story. At our school, she was a big fish in our little pond. Unfortunately, she returned to the US for her senior year. After going through her freshman, sophomore and junior years in a school with about 80 students, she entered her senior year as one of 1,500 seniors! She became a little fish in a very large lake, became clinically depressed and didn’t recover for over ten years.

Yet, it wasn’t all that bad. We were a small, closely knit group. We were able to participate in many things that others our age would never even consider. I’ll share some of those stories later.

Back in 1964, the economy wasn’t doing too good. As a high school graduate, with a “college prep” background, I couldn’t even get a job in a supermarket. My parents didn’t have enough money to allow me even to attend a state college. Eventually, I gave up job seeking and decided to join the navy. At one point, while in high school, my school counselor had arranged to get me an appointment to the Coast Guard Academy. Working with the …Continue reading →

You’ve all seen crying and hand-wringing by those who believe that Same Sex Marriages [samesexmarriage.ca] somehow violate the sanctity of marriage. (See: Bush vows to defend ‘sanctity of marriage’ [washtimes.com].) My position is simple. By mixing the secular or profane recognition of legal and financial contracts, known as marriages, with the theological or sacred unions of a man and a woman, also known as marriages, the churches have opened themselves up to this problem. The major theme behind the drive …Continue reading →